P.J. FLECK – Page 36 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

NBA Oracle Likes Wolves in Playoffs

Posted on March 8, 2022March 15, 2023 by David Shama

The Timberwolves could not only make the playoffs with more than 45 regular season wins, but be a spoiler in the postseason. That’s the view of a former NBA scout who still follows the Wolves and other teams in the league.

Minnesota figures to be a lower seed but could win its opening series. “I don’t think there are a lot of teams that want to see them in the playoffs,” the authority said while speaking anonymously.

With a 37-29 record, the Wolves have 16 games remaining in the regular season before the schedule ends April 10. The team is 8-2 in its last 10 games and making a bid for the playoffs for the first time since 2018. Minnesota is a vastly improved team over last season when the record was 23-49.

The ex-scout believes the unpredictable but gifted D’Angelo Russell is the key to how successful the Wolves will play this spring. “When (Russell is) under control and playing steady…they’re tough to beat,” he said.

The Wolves’ point guard excels at playmaking, but he can be too prone to poor decisions and turnovers. His skillset tempts him to be too creative.

Center Karl-Anthony Towns and shooting guard Anthony Edwards are the other two players who make up the team’s big three. Towns is “out of his funk” and playing at a high level, while Edwards can some day be a top 10 NBA talent, per the source.

He raved about coach Chris Finch, who took over the team in February of 2021, and has the Wolves playing some of their best basketball in the new millennium. “He’s a communicator,” the authority said while talking about how Finch has the players understanding what is expected of them.

Neither Russell nor Edwards played last night but the Wolves still crushed the Trail Blazers at Target Center, 124-81. Towns, coming off his Western Conference Player of the Week honor, had 27 points and 13 rebounds. As of yesterday morning he was the only player in the NBA averaging 20-plus points per game, shooting 50% or better on field goal attempts and 40% or better from three point range.

The crowd of 16,035 continued the trend of large and noisy fan turnouts. Finch described the new atmosphere at Target Center as “awesome” and said his team can continue to connect with fans by playing at a high level.

“…I think it’s a team that a lot of people like to watch play,” Finch said after the game. “We play hard, we share the ball. It’s pretty exciting. Even our mistakes are interesting. It feels like we got something growing here, and we’ve just got to keep building on it. It’s our responsibility to keep giving ‘em performances that they can cheer on.”

Worth Noting

With the Wild losing eight of its last 10 games, the local NHL club is prompting speculation it could be among the most likely franchises to make a trade prior to the league trade deadline of March 21.

Doug Risebrough, the Wild’s former GM, is a consultant for the Rangers team that plays Minnesota tonight at Xcel Energy Center.

Anonymous hockey authority talking about the Big Ten champion Gophers who start postseason play Saturday at home against Penn State: “They have a legitimate chance to win it all (NCAA title). They have that kind of depth.”

Two spring practices open to the public to watch the football Gophers will be at 4 p.m. April 5 and 11 a.m. April 16. Admission is free, with locations announced soon.

The annual spring game is scheduled for 1 p.m. April 30 at Huntington Bank Stadium.

An outcome of spring practice that could be telling for the fall is the physical condition of running backs Mo Ibrahim, Trey Potts and Bryce Williams. All had their 2021 playing time severely reduced by injuries.

Ibrahim, a 2021 preseason All-American candidate and recovering from Achilles surgery, will receive extra focus from fans even though he isn’t expected to participate in scrimmages. It could be that his quickness and speed is compromised. “Even if he’s 90 percent of what he was, that’s still a pretty good college running back,” said Minnesota authority Ryan Burns from Gopher Illustrated.

It might be that the now Division I St. Thomas athletics program, in need of upgraded athletic facilities including its own hockey arena, will turn to the former Ford plant area in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood. Land acquisition and development, arena construction and other facilities could come with a $100 million cost, per a source. Remember, though, the school’s roster of benefactors is deep and wealthy.

Alabama coach Nick Saban, perhaps the GOAT, has been added to the list of speakers for the Minnesota Football Coaches Association’s Clinic. Saban will speak to attendees via Zoom starting at 1 p.m. April 1. In-person speakers will include Gopher coach P.J. Fleck. Link

Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry will receive a happy birthday call later this month from Dick Jonckowski, the former Gophers’ basketball public address announcer and Shakopee-based event speaker. The two met years ago in Minneapolis and annually exchange birthday greetings, with Barry’s birthday March 28 and Jonckowski’s October 22. Barry turns 78 this year, Jonckowski, 79.

Barry, BTW, is one of the most under appreciated superstars in NBA history. He would fit seamlessly into today’s game, including blowing a fuse in the scoreboard with three-point conversions.

Jonckowski will be doing public address duties again for both the girls’ and boys’ basketball state tournaments in March. This year will be a return to years ago when all the boys’ games are played at Williams Arena. “I am glad I get to work in Williams Arena. That’s good,” Jonckowski said.

Tom Hoge from Fargo, who has three top 10 finishes on this season’s PGA Tour and has won about $3.2 million, is a name to watch at The Players Championship this week and the Masters next month. He is expected to be a headliner at this summer’s 3M Open in Blaine.

Front Office sports reported yesterday because of the delay in spring training baseball, communities in Arizona and Florida are missing out on about $1.3 billion in economic activity.

Very sorry to learn Mark Davy passed away recently. A superb fundraiser, Davy’s varied career included assistant athletic director at the University of Minnesota and director of the M Club. He had a close relationship with the late Pinky McNamara, the former Gopher football player who is among the University’s most generous donors ever.

Sean Sittnick and Yunus Masood are the latest guests on the “Behind the Game” program seen on local cable markets and YouTube. Sittnick is a Minnesota United soccer executive, while Masood is a cricket advocate who wants to see the sport grow on all levels in Minnesota. The show is co-hosted by Agile Marketing owner Patrick Klinger and USHL commissioner Bill Robertson. Link

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Even in Winter Iowa a Gopher Target

Posted on February 22, 2022 by David Shama

The game won’t be played until late November, about nine months from now. Yet even in the dead of winter the importance of it casts a shadow over the 2022 University of Minnesota football schedule.

P.J. Fleck will be in his sixth season as Golden Gophers head coach next fall. Fleck’s overall record at Minnesota is 35-23 and he is 23-10 the last three seasons (16-9 in Big Ten games). His overall winning percentage of .603 is third best among Gopher coaches who coached in 45 games or more. The Gophers are 3-0 in bowl games under Fleck and have won two of the last three against that rival school to the east.

But no Big Ten West Division championships yet.

What will it take for Minnesota to win the West and advance to the Big Ten championship game against the East Division champ?

“Get over the Kirk Ferentz hump.”

Those words come from Gopher Illustrated and 247Sports authority Ryan Burns who tracks U football year round. He told Sports Headliners that in talent Minnesota has pulled even with coach Ferentz’s Iowa Hawkeyes and the Wisconsin Badgers. But Iowa is 5-0 against Fleck and the 2021 West Division champion Hawkeyes stand in the way of a Minnesota breakthrough.

The Hawkeyes will be in town Saturday, November 19. Right now the offseason expectations are high for both Iowa and Minnesota. Count the two programs among early favorites to win the West. If that holds, the late season game in Minneapolis will have national focus and plenty of hype. And even if it doesn’t, Minnesota players and coaches will be hot to face the Hawks.

“To get Iowa at home on Senior Day, I can assure you there is no other game—outside of maybe Wisconsin—that these guys want to win (so much) because they’re sick and tired of losing to Kirk Ferentz,” Burns said.

The last time Minnesota defeated Iowa was in 2014. Ferentz is 17-6 all-time against the Gophers. His tenure as Iowa head coach dates back to 1999. His teams are almost always competitive and frequently among the elite in the Big Ten. The Ferentz way is to run a developmental program built around a firewall defense that some years is among the best in the country. The offense, though, often looks like an after thought, tasked as much with not losing games as scoring points.

Burns expects another lights-out defense in Iowa City in 2022. “…”But that offense is still dreadful,” he said. “If Minnesota can find a way to put up 20 points at home against Iowa this year I think they should be in pretty good shape. To me if you want to win the West, you have to finally get over that Iowa hurdle, especially when you get them at home and especially when it’s going to be on Senior Day.”

Gophers Newcomer Notes

The Gophers are rebuilding the offensive and defensive lines, with most starters not returning in 2022. Candidates to fill in are veteran reserves from 2021 along with transfers Quinn Carroll and Chuck Filiaga on offense, and Darnell Jefferies, Chris Smith and Lorenza Surgers on defense.

Fleck and his staff worked the transfer portal aggressively in past months, also adding cornerbacks Shannon Bishop and Ryan Stapp. Minnesota’s transfer class ranks No. 4 in the Big Ten, according to a February 247Sports story by Brandon Marcello.

Carroll, the former Notre Dame and Edina lineman, could play at tackle if his footwork is reliable. If not? “You just slide him into guard,” Burns said.

Filiaga projects as a guard at Minnesota and started four games last year for Big Ten champion Michigan. He was a 247Sports four-star prospect coming out of high school in Texas.

Jefferies, who turns 23 in July, saw his total snaps go down each of the last three seasons at Clemson. He is expected to at least provide depth at defensive tackle.

Smith, who made All-Ivy League at Harvard while studying human evolutionary biology, might make a big impression at that position for Minnesota. Burns predicts the impact could be similar to what the Gophers received from 2021 Clemson transfer Nyles Pinckney.

Burns said Surgers, a defensive end transfer from Vanderbilt, has impressed in winter conditioning. Getting noticed, too, are Bishop and Sapp, who both were all-conference corners at Western Kentucky and Abilene Christian.

Although potential All-Big Ten cornerback Justin Walley returns, the Gophers lose two corners in Coney Durr and Justus Harris who played significant snaps in the past. Veteran safeties Jordan Howden and Tyler Nubin are back after impressing with their improvement in 2021. Burns believes they could be the best safety duo in the West Division. He also thinks the mix of returnees, including corner Terel Smith and promising transfers, makes the secondary the strength of the defense.

After spring practice ends in April the coaches might look for more transfers. That could be prompted by two developments. First, some players on the current roster, after they see their ranking on the depth charts, may choose to enter the transfer portal.

The other “wild card” is Minnesota’s running back roster. Veterans Mo Ibrahim, Trey Potts and Bryce Williams are coming off significant injuries last season. The team’s leading rusher, Ky Thomas, transferred to Kansas.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see them take a transfer running back after the spring because I think we’re going to learn a lot more about how the injuries are going in that room,“ Burns said.

A development to watch, too, is whether true freshman Zach Evans is part of the running back rotation next fall. Burns expects Evans and Alexandria’s Kristen Hoskins to be at the front among freshmen who could see significant playing time in 2022.

Hoskins, a potential electrifying 5-9, 160-pound wide receiver, might not be targeted for passes next September but he may emerge as a regular punt or kickoff returner. Burns said Hoskins could well be the fastest of the wide receivers.

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Rams’ Way a Potential Path for Vikings

Posted on February 8, 2022 by David Shama

The Rams play in the Super Bowl Sunday and are 55-26 during the last five seasons. Their front office uses an approach that could help the Vikings build their roster and elevate out of the mediocrity of recent seasons.

The Rams haven’t drafted in the first round since 2016. Their next first rounder, as of now, is scheduled for 2024. Put the word scheduled in bold face if you like because with the Rams things happen with personnel acquisition—before the season, during training camp and even close to Super Bowl time.

This is an aggressive front office with a philosophy that believes it’s better to acquire proven impact players (like quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and linebacker Von Miller) than gamble on first round prospects. The roster has been constructed with key personnel who came via trades, free agency and draft picks beyond round one.

By not drafting in the first round, the Rams avoid the big salaries such players command. The savings is used to pay a bevy of stars on the roster that includes those mentioned above and others like defensive tackle Aaron Donald, cornerback Jalen Ramsey and offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth.

Superior scouting can pay off big with draft choices beyond the first and second rounds. The Rams’ poster boy for that is wide receiver Cooper Kupp, an NFL MVP candidate selected on the third round out of Eastern Washington.

Don’t get the idea the Rams trade away most of their draft choices in their wheeling and dealing. They often receive draft picks in return, and they also are awarded compensatory picks from the NFL for letting their free agents walk away. Part of the Rams’ successful roster construction approach is stockpiling draft choices.

Rams GM Les Snead isn’t afraid to make mistakes in the draft, or with free agents or via trades. Sometimes he and his front office colleagues are working on deadlines in crisis situations—drawing some similarity to the pressures of Wall Street where new Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah worked before building a career in the NFL.

It will be interesting to see if he uses a versatile and comprehensive approach like the Rams in the days ahead. Rick Spielman, his predecessor, was aggressive in stockpiling draft choices, too. He was spot on with some draft selections after the first round, taking Dalvin Cook and Brain O’Neill in the second round, Danielle Hunter in the third and Stefon Diggs and Ezra Cleveland in the fifth. But the Vikings haven’t done much over the years with mega free agent signings or trades. It’s been a long time since a Brett Favre or Jared Allen walked through the front door of the practice facility.

Worth Noting

Coach Jim Dutcher expects most of his players from the 1982 Golden Gophers’ Big Ten title team to participate in their 40-year celebration February 22, 23 and 24. It looks like 10 of the 12 will get together, including all the starters except for guard Tommy Davis who likely will be in France.

That starting group had just one native Minnesotan, center Randy Breuer. When Dutcher coached in the 1970s and 1980s at Minnesota, there were years when the state high school programs didn’t have a single Division I prospect. That’s in sharp contrast to the new millennium with the state now having a national reputation for producing quality D-I talent—sometimes the best in the country in Chet Holmgren, Jalen Suggs and Tyus Jones. “It’s worlds different,” Dutcher told Sports Headliners.

The 1982 group has been invited by Gopher head coach Ben Johnson to watch practice February 22 and then have dinner with the team. At halftime of the February 23 game against Wisconsin, Dutcher and his players will be honored. The next day the coach will host brunch at an Edina restaurant.

Johnson has faced the most difficult rebuild in memory at Minnesota. The first-year coach started the schedule with one returning player from last season and a roster of newcomers put together in hurry up fashion last spring. The Gophers, 11-9 overall and 2-9 in the Big Ten, have impressed with their competitiveness after going into the fall with the lowest of media and fan expectations. “He’s done an amazingly good job for his first year,” said Dutcher whose 1982 team was the last at Minnesota to win the league title.

Dutcher, 88, will attend granddaughter Liza’s wedding in San Diego next October. Father Brian Dutcher is head men’s basketball coach at San Diego State where assistant coach Mark Fisher coaches from a wheel chair after being diagnosed with ALS in 2013.

Bill Fitch only coached two seasons at the University of Minnesota, 1968-69 and 1969-70. He bolted for an NBA career that began with the expansion Cavaliers. If he had remained at Minnesota, he could have made the Golden Gophers Big Ten champs and a force on the national scene.

The Hall of Fame coach died earlier this month and I mourn his loss. I covered him during his Gophers days and we talked a few times by phone in recent years. Bill had a sharp tongue for his players and a quick wit for the media.

The Gophers had a shoot-first guard named Ollie Shannon who Fitch inherited after taking over the program. Ollie thought his shooting range was pretty much anywhere on the court. After a game in which Shannon almost cast a shot from mid-court the sarcastic coach told the media, “There goes Ollie running one of our options (from the playbook).”

Lou Nanne will provide TV analysis for the 58th year at the state hockey tournament next month. He is also doing four TV games this season for the Wild.

Nanne was captain of the 1968 US Olympic hockey team. Do the Americans have a chance of winning a medal this winter? “I definitely think they have,” he said.

Gopher athletic director Mark Coyle’s expected contract extension through 2028 is welcome news for fans “rowing the boat” because it helps assure a tight relationship with head football coach P.J. Fleck.

Surging Tom Hoge from Fargo, who finished second last month at the American Express in La Quinta and won Sunday’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, will be a headliner at this summer’s 3M Open in Blaine. “We fully expect him to play the 3M,” said Hollis Cavner who runs the Minnesota PGA Tour event.

Celebrity players at the AT&T included Bill Murray, the comedian, star of Caddyshack and St. Paul Saints investor. The showman wowed the crowd with a no-look putt.

Senior PGA rules official Mark Dusbabek, the former Gopher football player from Faribault, worked the tournament.

The Tapemark Minnesota PGA Pro-Am is set for June 10-12 at Southview Country Club. The event was successfully run for decades by the Klas family and this year will be the 51st annual.

With the ongoing pandemic, CORES program organizers are uncertain about a March gathering in Bloomington. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

The dual meet between top-ranked Penn State and No. 2 Iowa last month averaged 363,000 viewers, making it the most-watched wrestling broadcast in Big Ten Network history. The previous record was 343,000 viewers, also set by the two wrestling powerhouses in January of 2020.

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